BBC World Service. This is James Fletcher with The Inquiry. This week why do Mexicans drink so much soda? Earlier this year Sylvia Segura's mother lay in hospital. She was suffering from complications

of type 2 diabetes, a condition that claims 70,000 lives a year in Mexico. That's more than the

more than the country's infamous drug wars.

Despite the fact that sugary drinks are a cause of diabetes,

Sylvia told the BBC that she would smuggle Coca-Cola into the hospital

and give her mom sips.

There are various estimates for the amount of soft drinks Mexicans consume, but in comparison to other

nations most research puts them at the top of the chart. According to one study, Mexicans

drink half a liter of soft drink per person every day.

We should be clear that all sugary drinks contribute to obesity, diabetes and other health problems. But in trying

to understand how soda has taken hold so dramatically in Mexico, let's start by looking at one hugely successful brand, Coca-Cola.

It's hard to say exactly how successful they are, but in 2008, a U.S. Department of Agriculture report suggested the

Coca-Cola Company had a 70% share of the carbonated beverage market in

Mexico.

So, our question this week, why do Mexicans drink so much soda?

Part 1, sweet Brown Fizzy Water.

I was tending a basketball tournament in a very small town in the middle of the mountains, quite a far ride away from any major population center.

This is Laura Meibet. She's an assistant professor of social science at Kettering University in the United States.

She spent time in the Chiappas region in the south of Mexico, writing her master's thesis about Coca-Cola.

And the entire pavilion that every town has in its central square,

plus the square itself, plus the town hall,

were all painted with Coca-Cola logos.

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